Contraception is nothing but birth control. It prevents the occurrence of pregnancy after sexual intercourse.
You can prevent pregnancy through several different contraceptive methods.
However, choosing the right contraception method depends on various factors: your overall physical condition, regularity of sexual intercourse, the effectiveness of the contraception method, its side effects and your comfortness in using the method.
Before gaining knowledge about contraception, it is better to understand how do you get pregnancy!
The occurrence of pregnancy is totally based on menstrual cycle and ovulation process. Every month, your body starts ovulation fourteen days before the arrival of your menses.
The ovulation process occurs when one of your ovaries releases egg or ovum. Ovaries are a pair of female reproductive organs that resides on either sides of the uterus.
This ovum then passes into the fallopian tube and becomes ready for fertilization. The endometrium (uterus lining) will become thicker for the fertilization of the egg.
If the egg doesn’t get fertilized, the endometrium and the blood will become shed and passes out through vagina during your monthly periods, also called menses.
By using contraception methods, you can stop ovulation and without ovulation you cannot become pregnant. The contraception methods also protect you against sexual transmitted diseases, which occur when you have sexual intercourse with an infected person.
The sexual transmitted diseases are HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, genital warts, genital herpes and so on.
Remember that no contraception method is effective in preventing pregnancy all the time. However, as said earlier, it completely protects you against sexually transmitted diseases.
The efficiency of your contraception method depends on the way you make use of them. It works best when used properly. Also, learning and using these methods can take some time and practice.
The more you learn about the proper usage of contraception, the more chances you have to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, you have 80-90% chances of getting pregnancy if you don’t use any birth control method.
One of the most effective contraception methods is continuous abstinence. It means not having any type of sexual intercourse.
Periodic abstinence is the next best contraception method. It is also known as fertility awareness method. It refers to not having sexual activities in those seven or more fertile days where your chance of becoming pregnancy is very high.
The contraception methods such as condoms [Female Condoms], diaphragms, or cervical caps prevent the sperm from fertilizing your ovum or egg.
IUD (Intrauterine device) is one more method that avoids fertilization by stopping the sperm from entering the uterus. IUD is a small device in T shape, which is inserted into your uterus.
On the other hand, oral contraceptives (also known as the pill) contain two hormones called estrogen and progesterone that obstructs the release of eggs from any of the two ovaries. These pills are effective when taken daily for a period of twenty-one or twenty eight days.
Other contraception methods are Depo-Provera injections, contraceptive sponges, IUS, Hormonal Vaginal Contraceptive Rings, emergency contraceptives, surgical sterilization (vasectomy) and non-surgical sterilization (Essure Permanent Birth Control) and the Patch.
